Since i am experimenting in distilling especially Gins, i had the wish for a possability to exchange how and where to work the botanicals into the alcohol for the best results.
With my attempts i also gathered some knowledge and was hoping that i could start something for all enthusiasts to share this goodness of information with one another.
And i hope my start will do good.
Juniper, Coriander: best results crushing them, then macerating both for 24h and redistilling with them in pot, also leave new ones in fewer quantity in culumn.
This combination can give a heavy oily juniper character, watch out for the oils in the foreshot and dont go under ~42°% or the distillate will go cloudy. But i am happy with this combination.
Angelica, Orris root, Licorice root: I got a little better results putting them only in the column, because in the pot they can get to harsh/strong for my taste and leave no space for the others.
Ceylon/Cassia: dont overdo it is all i can say. It can taste very fast only like cinnamon. I experienced no difference in pot or column. I have the feeling it cancels out some botanicals, so i am leaving this one out at the moment.
Cardamom: the same, can get really gross! But not leaving this out for sure!
All kinds of pepper: did their job good in pot for me, so also maceration and redistilling. Dont know yet if they are great in column too.
All kinds of peels: got it from somewhere that you should not redistill them in pot, only put them in column. Doing this since then, results are okay for me. Tried also only macerating them, works okay for me too.
All kinds of fruitflesh (lemons/berries): got big problems with this ones. Most the time i put them in the pot only (macerate and redistill them), but i can not really taste them...
All kinds of earthy roots (gentian,calamus,sandal etc): no good results in column! I did many tests and all went terribly smoky and unpleasant when they were in the column. They do okay macerating and redistilling in pot, not completely happy with those results. It varys a little between only tasting them (calamus then taste like goat) or not tasting them much
All kinds of floral botanicals (Rose pedals,hopps,chamomille): putting them in pot for maceration and then redistilling with them in combination with less of new ones in column did really great for me. It can lead to many oils like the juniper, so watch out for them!
Maybe this already helps a little and some of you will correct me (not in my english
) or post their experience in this topic. It would really mean much for me and i am very excited to find out more about this.Sincerely TOTO